Not sure what to think of Mike Gillis's lack of activity during the season and at the trade deadline. i'm over the fact he didn't trade Roberto as the only serious suitors seemed to be the Leafs and their offer was a joke. He could still get the same joke in the summer. Or could he ? This team flames out in round one and it's both Gillis and AV who are done here. The Italian will want someone's head on a stick for saddling them with long term contracts that are of little help to the team.

So Gillis is a gambler. He is gambling that getting Derek Roy along with a healthy Ryan Kesler will be enough to get this team into the Conf finals. I'm not so sure about that . He must be gambling that either David Booth or Zack Kassian will be able to be a top 9 forward and be a solid contributor in the post season. Persoanlly I would have hedged my bets and acquired another decent winger preferably one with some size. You can't tell me nobody was available for next years 2nd and say Jordan Schroeder . Throw in Mason Raymond and he likely could have landed a real nice winger.

I can't help but feel there's a bit of a disconnect between Gillis and AV. AV sounded like a real dink in his presser and his giggling about not asking Ballard how he was doing in his rehab was disrespectful to the player and the team. Then when asked about playing the Oilers tomorrow he says he hopes his goalie might actually make a save. Sounds like a coach who is a little pissed his GM didn't buck up for more forward help at the deadline. I can see why . Vigneault's head will be on a stick if the team doesn't get to the final 4. Roy is a nice pickup but there are too many question marks up front and not enough answers.

I really believe this is an ego thing between Gillis and Fattycakes. Fuck that, I KNOW it is about ego. I don't blame MG for not giving Luongo to TO. Imagine if TO goes on a tear and Luongo drags them into the final 4. The Canucks flame out and CS craps the bed. Gillis gets the boot and Randy looks like a genius. Not on his watch and i don't blame him. Can you imgaine Cherry and the other idiots at HNIC kissing and licking Luongo if that team wins a round or two ? Thing is with Smith, Bernier and Miller on the market in the summer will there be more of a market for Roberto , the same, or less ? If the team is forced to eat a bad contract or heaven forbid buy out Roberto ( can't see this happening) Gillis will be out of a job.

Blob Mckenzie wrote:Not sure what to think of Mike Gillis's lack of activity during the season and at the trade deadline. i'm over the fact he didn't trade Roberto as the only serious suitors seemed to be the Leafs and their offer was a joke. He could still get the same joke in the summer. Or could he ? This team flames out in round one and it's both Gillis and AV who are done here. The Italian will want someone's head on a stick for saddling them with long term contracts that are of little help to the team.

So Gillis is a gambler. He is gambling that getting Derek Roy along with a healthy Ryan Kesler will be enough to get this team into the Conf finals. I'm not so sure about that . He must be gambling that either David Booth or Zack Kassian will be able to be a top 9 forward and be a solid contributor in the post season. Persoanlly I would have hedged my bets and acquired another decent winger preferably one with some size. You can't tell me nobody was available for next years 2nd and say Jordan Schroeder . Throw in Mason Raymond and he likely could have landed a real nice winger.

I can't help but feel there's a bit of a disconnect between Gillis and AV. AV sounded like a real dink in his presser and his giggling about not asking Ballard how he was doing in his rehab was disrespectful to the player and the team. Then when asked about playing the Oilers tomorrow he says he hopes his goalie might actually make a save. Sounds like a coach who is a little pissed his GM didn't buck up for more forward help at the deadline. I can see why . Vigneault's head will be on a stick if the team doesn't get to the final 4. Roy is a nice pickup but there are too many question marks up front and not enough answers.

I really believe this is an ego thing between Gillis and Fattycakes. Fuck that, I KNOW it is about ego. I don't blame MG for not giving Luongo to TO. Imagine if TO goes on a tear and Luongo drags them into the final 4. The Canucks flame out and CS craps the bed. Gillis gets the boot and Randy looks like a genius. Not on his watch and i don't blame him. Can you imgaine Cherry and the other idiots at HNIC kissing and licking Luongo if that team wins a round or two ? Thing is with Smith, Bernier and Miller on the market in the summer will there be more of a market for Roberto , the same, or less ? If the team is forced to eat a bad contract or heaven forbid buy out Roberto ( can't see this happening) Gillis will be out of a job.

AV knows that he's got this playoffs and if he loses he's out of a job. He's got to make a deep run to stay here next year so he definitely wanted another vet or two.

The other question about Lu is whether or not Gillis and Gilman were so engrossed in those talks that they couldn't get involved in others, for guys like Forsberg for example. You never know how many other conversations could have happened had this Luongo thing been behind them.

I'm very happy with the Roy addition, no question. I think this team has enough up front if everyone is healthy, but that hasn't happened all year. Another solid vet would have really helped, and I'm more pissed at Gillis not getting that done than I am that he couldn't get the Lu deal done.

Not much else we can do on this now until The draft though, so for now all we can do is cheer for the guys that are here.

Blob Mckenzie wrote:Not sure what to think of Mike Gillis's lack of activity during the season and at the trade deadline. i'm over the fact he didn't trade Roberto as the only serious suitors seemed to be the Leafs and their offer was a joke. He could still get the same joke in the summer. Or could he ? This team flames out in round one and it's both Gillis and AV who are done here. The Italian will want someone's head on a stick for saddling them with long term contracts that are of little help to the team.

I don't really get the sense that there was a lack of activity so far, just a lack of pulling the trigger. I think, as you said, that his not dealing Lou for pucks and tape was the right move. I think they went hard after Clowe and it was the player who chose another team. I get the impression that they looked at other players but the price was too high, and when you consider that rentals don't always work, he could have made a trade that not only took a piece away from the team but also added a piece that worsened the team by not panning out. As I said in another thread, I would like to see the Canucks go all-in just once instead of raising big and then folding on the all-in when the river leaves you with two high pairs but no full house. All the same, it is hard to form an opinion about a GM based on what trades he does or does not make during the season as there is no real way to know what deals he did or didn't attempt to make.

Blob Mckenzie wrote: I can't help but feel there's a bit of a disconnect between Gillis and AV. AV sounded like a real dink in his presser and his giggling about not asking Ballard how he was doing in his rehab was disrespectful to the player and the team. Then when asked about playing the Oilers tomorrow he says he hopes his goalie might actually make a save. Sounds like a coach who is a little pissed his GM didn't buck up for more forward help at the deadline. I can see why . Vigneault's head will be on a stick if the team doesn't get to the final 4. Roy is a nice pickup but there are too many question marks up front and not enough answers.

He didn't sound impressed that's for sure. I definitely agree with you that there seems to be something off between coach and GM of late. I think that some of the players that Gillis has acquired who Vigneault hasn't given a fair shake to have pissed Gillis off. I think Vigneault resents that GMMG has final say, even if MG doesn't always exercise it. The laughing over Ballard just spelled douche-bag in not so many letters. Laughing about getting a save is fine. While I do think that Vigneault may be losing the room a bit, I think he does have solid relationships with some of the guys, and both Lou and Cory are among those players, and while both guys are professional and highly competitive, I think they both look at that game and laugh it off at this point. Schneider is very good at putting things behind him, and has definitely demonstrated the ability to laugh at himself when he screws up. The same can be the same for Luongo this year. When it comes to the goaltending situation I don't think Vigneault has been offside at all this year.

As for the question marks up front, I don't accept that excuse. The players on this roster are good enough to get it done. Vigneault just needs to utilize them better. I think that a coach who has gone stale with a team likes the idea of new blood in the room because it is a way of refreshing things that doesn't entail firing the coach.

When it comes to GMMG's press conference the only thing I have an issue with is when he said yes there were several discussion with Luongo regarding him waiving his NTC. Luongo said he was never actually asked to waive it. I have a feeling that it's in the middle somewhere, they asked him if he would under the right circumstances, but never asked him to waive it for a specific trade. It just sounds like something where everyone isn't quite on the same page yet.

There was one more thing I didn't like in Gillis' press conference. When they asked about the PP and his thoughts about the team being just absolute shit with the man-advantage he said, "I think to score on the power-play you have to get them." I was a bit confused. The Canucks haven't had the most in the league, but they are middle of the pack for opportunities. It's not the number of shots, it's the quality of shots and the lack of movement. I wish he would have called a spade a spade and just said that the team needs to be better on the PP.

Cut this out of a monster post I was writing over in the deadline thread to make it a little easier on the eyes, thought it might be more appropriate here:

I would have loved to scoop up Ryane Clowe, of course guys like Jagr or Iginla would be improvements but they went for steep prices (for this organization anyway). If I'm correct on tagging rules we couldn't have added a Pominville or an Erat or a Gaborik without moving guys signed next year so that could have gotten ugly.

Anyway a Clowe or a Torres would have been nice, I like Derek Dorsett but we didn't exactly have a Marian Gaborik to offer up. I would have been pleasantly indifferent about adding Wade Redden or Ryan O'Byrne or whoever but oh well.

It would have been nice to address one or both of those spots in the lineup, but I think that when reasonably healthy this group has enough horses to get it done - on paper.

Still a deep group that should be able to easily ice three lines with a couple of scoring threats each. We'll see what happens in the playoffs and like I said it would be really nice to have one more forward who can score and dominate with size but it's not like it's the difference between jumping to the top of the list of favourites or anything. Ultimately this team will go as far as the core group can take it, and there are enough supporting guys that one or two should be able to step up every night. If the core falters or the depth guys consistently don't step up, I doubt another deadline acquisition would have fixed that and Gillis will have his hands full in the offseason - both in terms of addressing his roster and cap situation, and probably finding a new coach.

The Canucks strength is that they have a goaltender that can win games and go on streaks. With a puttering offense, the Canucks are still in good position because early in the year Luongo was a champ and more recently Schneider has looked like an all-star.

The Canucks weakness is not toughness, but a lack strength down the middle, a lack of offensive depth, and a terrible power play. The center situation is largely due Kesler's injury and the mistake of pencilling in Malhotra to be a contributor. The offensive problems is largely due to Booth and Kesler's extended absenses and Kassian's inability to really take the next step (he might do so in the next season or two, but this year he is not to be relied on for offense.)

MG addressed all of these weaknesses in one move, and paid a reasonable price to do so. Granted, Derek Roy is not flawless, but he is a legitimate second line center. Granted, this team is not as well positioned to make a run in the playoffs as they were in 2011. But they are definitely a contender with a lineup that includes Kesler and Roy. I don't think I would say the same if Roy was not part of the fold, and Derek Roy helps address this team's deficits more than a guy like Ryan Clowe.

On paper, if healthy, this forward group is stronger than in 2011. It's deeper, more well rounded and more experienced. Remember, we didn't even have Malhotra for most of those playoffs, so Roy is a massive upgrade over Lapierre. Weise is an upgrade over Glass and Oreskovich. If healthy, Booth would be an upgrade over Torres. Kassian is an unknown at this point, but has the potential to be a big factor in playoff games (still want to see him with the Sedins for the sake of balance in the lineup and grit, but I digress...)

Booth, if healthy, could really slot in anywhere. Fingers crossed he is on a fast path to recovery.

The back end is a bit of a different story. You could generously classify the groups as a wash, but more realistically the 2011 group was more well rounded. In 2013, we are missing Ehrhoff, Salo and Rome. Now, we've added Garrison and Tanev (effectively), who are better defensively than Ehrhoff and Salo, but neither replaces the offensive game Ehrhoff brought (12 points in those playoffs).

Hamhuis-GarrisonEdler-BieksaBallard-TanevAlberts

Schneider and/or Luongo should be enough. If they aren't, we're screwed, so fuck.

At this point, I'd say we have the horses to make a run, but only if the coaching staff can fix the disasterous powerplay. Getting Kesler back, and the addition of Roy will help, but only time will tell. The PP has been shitty for a long while now, and it's starting to look like maybe the issue isn't personnel.

I agree with Blob that if this team flames out in the first round again, changes are afoot. This core group SHOULD be good enough to make a run. We are a cap team, and do not have any major holes. If the group falters early again, I'd say anything short of dealing the Sedins should be on the table as far as changes go.

Meds wrote:When it comes to GMMG's press conference the only thing I have an issue with is when he said yes there were several discussion with Luongo regarding him waiving his NTC. Luongo said he was never actually asked to waive it. I have a feeling that it's in the middle somewhere, they asked him if he would under the right circumstances, but never asked him to waive it for a specific trade. It just sounds like something where everyone isn't quite on the same page yet.

If I heard this correctly the media didn't get their Luongo facts straight and those media morons are trying to stir up the controversy.

From what I heard, they asked Luongo about Florida, and then asked if he regrets not being more flexible about other teams - he said "I wasn't asked to waive to go anywhere else".

He isn't saying that he wasn't asked - just that he wasn't asked about "other places".Reading between the lines, he was probably asked last year by MG if he would accept a deal to TO or Florida, he agreed. MG never got the offer he was looking for from Florida TO, so Lu wasn't presented with a specific prospective deal.

What I think Lu was saying is that he was never asked by MG about anywhere ELSE - ie washington, Columbus etc

I think the powerplay will do a complete 180 when we have a healthy Kesler and Roy both playing. Not only does it give us 3 good centermen but on the PP we'll have a quality 2nd centerman that can dish the puck out seeing as how Kesler plays on the top unit. Couple that with splitting Edler and Garrison between the 2 units and we should have 2 very effective PP groups.

At this point, I'd say we have the horses to make a run, but only if the coaching staff can fix the disasterous powerplay. Getting Kesler back, and the addition of Roy will help, but only time will tell. The PP has been shitty for a long while now, and it's starting to look like maybe the issue isn't personnel.

I agree with Blob that if this team flames out in the first round again, changes are afoot. This core group SHOULD be good enough to make a run. We are a cap team, and do not have any major holes. If the group falters early again, I'd say anything short of dealing the Sedins should be on the table as far as changes go.

Not sure that the PP issue isn't the Sedin's really.Considering the PP time the "b" PP unit has done much better than the "A" group. and why wouldn't they be on "the table"? If Kesler returns to form he might be the "Keeper" . He certainly played far better in the 2011 playoff run.. Not keeping Erhoff was a no-brainer.. Yeah he got 12 points in the playoffs but was a disaster defensively..Ended up with the worst +/-on the team..-11 which means he was on the ice for 23 goals against .. Sedins were not much better and that PP group gave up 2 short handed goals.. so our pp problems go back a long way.. Newell Brown was hired by MG to coach "special teams" so maybe firing AV for Gillis's non performance and Browns pisspoor performance might not be a great idea?

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,Know when to walk away and know when to run.You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate

Blob Mckenzie wrote:Not sure what to think of Mike Gillis's lack of activity during the season and at the trade deadline. i'm over the fact he didn't trade Roberto as the only serious suitors seemed to be the Leafs and their offer was a joke. He could still get the same joke in the summer. Or could he ? This team flames out in round one and it's both Gillis and AV who are done here. The Italian will want someone's head on a stick for saddling them with long term contracts that are of little help to the team.

So Gillis is a gambler. He is gambling that getting Derek Roy along with a healthy Ryan Kesler will be enough to get this team into the Conf finals. I'm not so sure about that . He must be gambling that either David Booth or Zack Kassian will be able to be a top 9 forward and be a solid contributor in the post season. Persoanlly I would have hedged my bets and acquired another decent winger preferably one with some size. You can't tell me nobody was available for next years 2nd and say Jordan Schroeder . Throw in Mason Raymond and he likely could have landed a real nice winger.

I can't help but feel there's a bit of a disconnect between Gillis and AV. AV sounded like a real dink in his presser and his giggling about not asking Ballard how he was doing in his rehab was disrespectful to the player and the team. Then when asked about playing the Oilers tomorrow he says he hopes his goalie might actually make a save. Sounds like a coach who is a little pissed his GM didn't buck up for more forward help at the deadline. I can see why . Vigneault's head will be on a stick if the team doesn't get to the final 4. Roy is a nice pickup but there are too many question marks up front and not enough answers.

I really believe this is an ego thing between Gillis and Fattycakes. Fuck that, I KNOW it is about ego. I don't blame MG for not giving Luongo to TO. Imagine if TO goes on a tear and Luongo drags them into the final 4. The Canucks flame out and CS craps the bed. Gillis gets the boot and Randy looks like a genius. Not on his watch and i don't blame him. Can you imgaine Cherry and the other idiots at HNIC kissing and licking Luongo if that team wins a round or two ? Thing is with Smith, Bernier and Miller on the market in the summer will there be more of a market for Roberto , the same, or less ? If the team is forced to eat a bad contract or heaven forbid buy out Roberto ( can't see this happening) Gillis will be out of a job.

The final straw for me involving the coach was not knowing Daniel's status last yr heading into the playoffs... he is a great coach but a class A dick...

whether you like it or don't like it learn to live with it because its the best thing going today...

Reefer2 wrote:Prior to the big run 3 seasons ago I said to get rid of him, then the SC run and I was ready to forgive until his ego once again gets in the way and he Ballard sitting???

I will say it again, this team will never win the SC with him as coach.

Yeah, he isn't Iron Mike for sure.. Keenan would have had Ballard cleaning toilets or traded him for a bag of used pucks after watching him completely screw up defensively and offensively after about 4 or 5 games..Rome or Alberts are both better at clearing the crease and being in position defensively ( yeah and they can both hit ).. I am more of the opinion that we will probably not win a Stanley with the Sedins as our main offensive threat..

Reefer2 wrote:Prior to the big run 3 seasons ago I said to get rid of him, then the SC run and I was ready to forgive until his ego once again gets in the way and he Ballard sitting???

I will say it again, this team will never win the SC with him as coach.

AV is definitely a first class dick, but he's also been very succesful in his time here. I truly believe he has to take the team deep this year or he's done.

Hopefully with Roy's addition and the team getting healthy (Raymond, Weise, Kesler and Ballard are all due back in the next week) we'll see the real Canucks for the first time this year. Should be a much improved version from the 6 forwards injured, #6 dman playing up front version we saw a few weeks back.